I just finished my T-Moth this morning except for the electronics, but the plane is all together, you'll find the instructions are well done but a little lacking in some details that will have to be thought out ahead of time.

There are alot of mods as you have mentioned and I've done most of them to my plane, ( sure hope it's not to heavy to fly )...grin.. Because I've just been there done that all I can tell you is Take your Time and do it right, Search out the TigerMoth squadron web site and you will find a section that takes you right through the complete building and gives you good tips on mods and glues.
Also check out any posts on this site by Basketcase, he really helped me out, your right about the following that the TM has almost bordering on a cult, but there are also flyers out there that can't get their Moths to fly because they weren't carfull about fitting the fuse halves together properly be for gluing or have a warped wing because they didn't take the time to set the dehidal right, the top wing brace needs to be glued at the very edge of the leeding edge of the top wing or the screw tabs on the fuse won't line up.

If you take your time and do a little research you'll have a great time and a great plane, but putting one together in one night could get you into more problems than you need.

If you have trouble finding the sites that i've mentioned e-mail me and I'll foward them to you.
Good luck,

I guess I was a little late on that suggestion, our post seem to have crossed in the mail, looks and sounds like you did a fine job of it, my hat is off to you, you are quick.
Moe
BTW- Keep those sites in mind for future mods.

Thanks Moe, good links. Well, I just learned lesson #1....
- Do NOT CA the top wing struts to the fuselage strut supports, because you WILL need to remove the wing at some point On my fifth flight, I nosed in a little on the landing and my elevator servo came loose from the tape. Anyone have a different method for attaching the servos?

Hi Tenover, very nice job! Well done. Congrats on the FAST build and successfull maiden.

Welcome to the Tigermoth Cult. I love this plane too.

Do you have the inner struts glued to the top wing? You could replace the screws with dowels or skewers to make it easier to remove the wings.

You could mount the servos by wrapping with masking tape and epoxying to the sides, or put in some balsa servo rails and use the mounting screws. The epoxy is lighter and the tape peels off easily when you want to remove the servo.

Yeah, I've CA'd and screwed in the inner struts to the fuse, so maybe I'll "undo" that and use dowels. I will also replace the servo double-stick tape with a little epoxy. The li-ion batteries I got have really made me enjoy electric flight again. I quit with powered stuff about 2 years ago, because I was so sick of flying for 10 minutes, charging for 40, etc....This is awesome. 30 minute flight times make a huge difference. I can now go out with two packs, fly for an hour, and I'm done. An hour of flying seems like forever.

Rempelicious:
Those are top-secret instrument panels, you weren't supposed to see them. I had a buddy at NASA send me scale templates of a B-15 SEXR Double over-under Prototype. Shhhhh, don't tell anyone. Seriously, I cut the pieces from the extra stuff that the wing struts come on and I drew black circles with a sharpie to get the "instruments:....For some real cool looking ones, check out this link-Tiger Moth Instrument Panels and other cool things...
All the way at the bottom of the page...
One more question guys:
Looks like I broke the gearbox in two. Doesn't want to take any CA. Can I buy just the gearbox without the motor, and if so, what gearbox am I looking for?

It's almost easier to order the entire unit. You can get a replacement for the original motor, or go up a little in power with a healthier IPS. I just bought the entire setup for $18 from Balsa Products, and it's the more powerful IPS-S1. Try them at:

Thanks Buzz....So what's the IPS system on the stock TM, the S-2? Also, I noticed there's about 10 different IPS units to choose from, what's the difference in them, bigger motors? Will they all fit in the TM? I just want to make sure I order the right one. The S-1, the one you got, do you still get the same flight times?

The stock motor should be an IPS-A. There are many other configurations, including the IPS-D, which has two motors on one gearbox.

I'm trying to find just the right power to get my heavy moth some oomph! The IPS-S1 I ordered isn't here yet, so I can't answer the question about flight times. Even flying low and slow with my present IPS-A, running at full throttle to stay up, I'm getting up to 15 minutes on the 370mah nimh setup. I want to stay with the nimh's because they fit so nicely in the battery compartment.

I thought a lot about Kokams... but I think I'd fall over trying to fly for an hour non-stop. Even Tres had to lay down to put that record 70 minute flight in!

The one t hing I'm trying NOT to do is overpower the Moth. I just need altitude!

Images

Good idea Dave, thanks!
I just added clear coffee stir straws as reinfocements on the vertical outside wing struts as well as one single piece between the front ineer struts. Seems to add ALOT of much needed strength with almost no added weight.